By Tiernan Ray

As widely rumored for weeks now, Dell (DELL) founder and chief executive Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Management will take the PC maker private at $13.65 per share, using a combination of debt and equity, as announced this morning by the company, whose board said it unanimously approved the deal.

The transaction has a value of $24.4 billion.

The shares, after being briefly halted, are now up 13 cents, or 1%, at $13.40.

Microsoft (MSFT) will provide $2 billion loan for the effort. The announcement does not

The announcement notes that the take-out price came at a 37% premium to the average closing price of Dell stock during the 90 days preceding January 11th, when rumors first began to surface of a deal.

Mike Dell will remain CEO and will own 14% of the company.

“I believe this transaction will open an exciting new chapter for Dell, our customers and team members,” said Mike Dell.

We can deliver immediate value to stockholders, while we continue the execution of our long-term strategy and focus on delivering best-in-class solutions to our customers as a private enterprise. Dell has made solid progress executing this strategy over the past four years, but we recognize that it will still take more time, investment and patience, and I believe our efforts will be better supported by partnering with Silver Lake in our shared vision. I am committed to this journey and I have put a substantial amount of my own capital at risk together with Silver Lake, a world-class investor with an outstanding reputation. We are committed to delivering an unmatched customer experience and excited to pursue the path ahead.

Mind you, the buyout is “subject to a number of conditions,” as they say, including “a vote of the unaffiliated stockholders.” As my colleague Andrew Baryhas written in these pages, some shareholders believe the current offer is having the company on the cheap, and that an offer of $20 would have been fairer. That means the deal may run into opposition from such critics. But others, such as Bernstein Research’s Toni Sacconaghi, have written that the deal can get done given the combination of parties likely to vote yes.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), which will face a different kind of foe in a privately held Dell, has seen its shares rise on this announcement, currently up 6 cents, at $16.24.

Jefferies & Co.’s Peter Misek this morning issued a note to clients in which he wrote that “a DELL transaction range of $13-$14/share implies $12.50-$13.50/share for HPQ” but that “we think that Michael Dell creates a special situation for DELL and that HPQ is unlikely to find someone to take such a hefty equity stake in any potential LBO.”

About Tech Trader Daily

Tech Trader Daily is a blog on technology investing written by Barron’s veteran Tiernan Ray. The blog provides news, analysis and original reporting on events important to investors in software, hardware, the Internet, telecommunications and related fields. Comments and tips can be sent to: techtraderdaily@barrons.com.